Bag opening and emptying machine



June 3, 1969 E. J. MORIARTY BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Sheet FiledOct. 9, 1967 FIG INVENTOR EDWARD J. MORIARTY June 3, 1969 J, RTY3,447,706

BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Filed 001. 9, 1967 Sheet 2 of5 INVENTOREDWARD J. M() IARTY ATT RNEY FIG. 2 zFZM/a June 3, 1969 E. J. MORIARTY3,447,706

BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 1967 Sheet 3 of 5INVENTOR EDWARD J .MOR/IARTY f zz v ATT EY J1me 1969 E. J. MORIARTY 3,

BAG OPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 1967 Sheet 4 of 5INVENTOR EDWARD J. MORIARTY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,447,706 BAGOPENING AND EMPTYING MACHINE Edward J. Moriarty, 8821 Kenwood Road,Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 Filed Oct. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 673,762 Int. Cl.B65b 21/02, 69/00; B65g 65/04 US. Cl. 214-305 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A machine for slitting a bag containing free flowingparticles of material, vibrating the bag to empty the same, and anelongate member for ejecting the empty bag from the machine. The machinehas one or more knifes which alternately are moved in oppositedirections by rfiuid pressure controlled mechanism. The operation of thebag ejecting member is controlled by a timer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field 0] the invention The present inventionrelates to material handling apparatus, and more particularly to amachine for opening bags or sacks and emptying the contents thereof intoanother receptacle.

Description of the prior art Heretofore, bag Opening and emptyingmachines have been devised but these machines were not entirelysatisfactory because of slitting, emptying and ejecting problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present inventionis to provide an improved bag opening and emptying machine which is notsubject to the difliculties heretofore encountered.

Another object is to provide such a machine which assures proper openingof the bag and rapid and complete emptying thereof.

Another object is to provide such a machine which ejects the bag after asuflicient duration of time has elapsed to assure that the bag is empty.

Another object is to provide such a machine which enables the bags to bepositioned either manually or by automation for proper slitting andejection.

Another object is to provide such a machine which goes through its cycleof operation in response to placing a bag in position for opening andemptying.

A further object is to provide such a machine which is simple inconstruction, economical to manufacture and reliable in use.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects aregenerally accomplished by providing a machine which comprises a frame, abasket supported by the frame having a series of spaced apart rods forsupporting a bag filled with free flowing particles of material, knifemeans between adjacent rods positioned to slit the underside of the bag,means for moving the knife means to form a slit in the underside of thebag, means for vibrating the basket to cause the material to flowthrough the slit in the bag whereby the bag is emptied, tine meansbetween adjacent rods and pivotally mounted 3,447,706 Patented June 3,1969 (BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of theinvention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description,and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thespecification, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a bag opening and emptying machine inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a vibrating mechanism located at theback of the machine.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the knife means cylinder control circuit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the ejection cylinder control circuit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT General description 07 themachine Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings in detail, thereis shown a bag opening and emptying machine which generally comprises aframe 10', a basket 11 supported by the frame for supporting a bag (notshown) filled with particles of free flowing material, knife mechanism12 for slitting the underside of the bag, vibrating mechanism 14 (FIGS.3 and 4) for inducing the flow of material from the slitted bag to emptythe same, and mechanism 15 for ejecting the empty bag from the machine.

Frame and basket structure The frame 10 comprises an upper rectangularframe member 16, a vertical leg 17 at each corner of the frame member, atriangular shelf member 18 at each corner of the frame member, ahemispherical yieldable member 19 secured on the upper side of eachshelf member, and a vertical plate 20 at one side of the frame memberfor mounting the motor of the vibrating mechanism 14 as describedhereinafter.

The basket 11 comprises an upper rectangular plate 21 having a circularopening 22, a hemispherical yieldable member 24 secured to the undersideof the plate at each corner thereof and seated on one of the members 19to resiliently support the basket on the frame whereby vibration of thebasket is facilitated, an upright tube 25 having its upper end fittedinto the plate opening 22 secured thereto by vertical radially extendingweb members 26, a flexible fabric tube 27 (FIG. 2) secured to the lowerend of the tube 25 for conducting the material emptied out of the bag toa bin or hopper (not shown), a plurality of parallel spaced apart bowedbag supporting rods 28 secured to the tube 25 near its upper end, and ahorizontal vibrator connecting bracket 29 secured to the exterior of thetube 25 and positioned beneath the plate 20.

Knife mechanism The knife mechanism 12 comprises a shaft 30 journalledfor rotation on the frame 10 and extending beneath and perpendicularlywith respect to the bag supporting rods 28, arms 31 mounted on the shaftfor rotation therewith between adjacent rods 28, a knife 32 at the endof each arm 31 for slitting the bag, an air operated motor including acylinder 34 pivotally mounted on the frame at 33, a piston 35 and apiston rod 36 and being valved for reciprocating movement, and a bellcrank 37 on the shaft and linked to the free end of the piston rod 36.The shaft thus rocks the knives clockwise and counterclockwise along anarc which passes through the bottom side of the bag to not only slit thebag but to also disturb a considerable portion of the material in thebag whereby flow thereof is induced. Also, by employing more than oneknife, the bag is slit in several places whereby the time to empty thebag is greatly reduced.

As shown herein, the knives 32 are double edged and are formed witharcuate cutting surfaces 38. This enables the knives to slit one bagwhile moving clockwise and to slit the next bag while movingcounter-clockwise whereby a return stroke of the knives during eachoperating cycle is eliminated but the return stroke in the nextoperating cycle becomes the cutting stroke. Such an arrangement ishighly advantageous because wear on the knife mechanism is reduced byone-half. Also, the knives by being double edged need only be removedfor sharpening only half as often.

Vibrating mechanism The vibrating mechanism 14 (FIGS. 3 and 4) comprisesa motor mounted on the plate 20' with its drive shaft 41 extendingdownwardly, a shaft 42 journalled for rotation in bearing means 44 onthe bracket 29, a pair of thick plates 45 eccentrically secured to theshaft 42 for rotation therewith, and a flexible shaft 46 connecting themotor shaft 41 and the eccentric shaft 42.

By positioning one plate 45 above the bearing means and the other platebelow the bearing means, the forces exerted on bearing means arebalanced.

By being eccentrically mounted, the plates 45 upon being rotated impartvibration to the bracket 29 which vibration is transmitted to the tube25 and the bag supporting rods 28 on the tube to shake the bag and causematerial to flow therefrom and into the tubes 25 and 26.

Ejecting mechanism The bag ejecting mechanism 15 comprises a horizontalshaft 50 journalled for rotation at one side of the frame and beingparallel with respect to the shaft 30, elongate means such as structurehaving bent tines 51 positioned between and below adjacent bagsupporting rods 28 and having a U-shaped extension 52 for mounting thefork structure for pivotal movement on the shaft 50, and a reciprocatingair operated motor including a cylinder 54 pivotally mounted on theframe 10 at 55, a piston 56 and a piston rod 57 linked to the extension52 at 58.

The ejecting mechanism is arranged so that when the piston 57 is movedto its lowermost position, the free ends of the tines 51 are swungupwardly and outwardly beyond the frame 10. As this occurs, the emptybag is lifted from the bag supporting rods 28 and is dropped to the sideof the frame.

Knife mechanism control circuit In FIG. 5, a control circuit for theknife mechanism motor is shown diagrammatically and includesconventional air operated valve and valve actuator elements. Theseelements have not been illustrated in detail in FIGS. 1 to 4 becausetheir construction and operation will be better understood by theirschematic disclosure.

These elements include a three-way Automatic Valve Co. valve 60 which isoperated by a return spring 59 and by a lever 61 (FIGS. 1 and 2)extending between and above a pair of rods 28 and being moved downwardlyby the weight of the bag when placed on the rods. A four-way Clippardvalve 62 has actuators 63 and 64 which respectively are controlled byidentical Clippard four-way valves 65 and 66 each having an actuator 67and a return spring 68. A four-way Allenair valve 69 has actuators 70and 71 and is in fluid flow connection with port 72 and 73 at oppositeends of the motor cylinder 34.

When the valve 60 is operated, the actuator of the valve 65 ispressurized causing this valve to close, and the actuator 63 of thevalve 62 is exhausted. Simultaneously, the actuator 70 of the valve 69is pressurized to shift this valve to a position so that air enters thecylinder at 72 whereupon the piston rod 36 is extended and the knifeshaft 30 is turned counterclockwise causing the knives to slit the bag.When the bag is almost empty or its weight has decreased substantially,the return spring '59 of the valve 60 causes this valve to exhaust. Thisalso causes the actuator of the valve 65 to be exhausted and causes theactuator 63 of the valve 62 to be pressurized whereupon the valve 62 isshifted.

When the valve 60- is again operated by the next bag, the actuator ofthe valve 66 is pressurized causing this valve to close, and theactuator 64 of the valve 62 is exhausted. Simultaneously, the actuator71 of the valve 69 is pressurized to shift this valve to a position sothat air enters the cylinder at 73 whereupon the piston rod 36 isretracted and the knife shift 30 is turned clockwise causing the knivesto slit the bag. When the bag is almost empty or its weight hasdecreased substantially, the return spring 59 of the valve 60 causesthis valve to exhaust. This also causes the actuator of the valve 66 tobe exhausted and causes the actuator 64 of the valve 62 to bepressurized whereupon the valve 62 is shifted.

The knife mechanism control circuit has now been restored to itsoriginal position and is ready to repeat its cycle of operation uponactuation of the lever 61.

Bag ejecting mechanism control circuit In FIG. 6, a control circuit forthe bag ejecting mechanism motor is shown diagrammatically whichgenerally includes a source of electricity 75, a main switch 76, acontrol switch 77, a timer 78, a reversing switch 79, a mechanism foroperating the reversing switch, and a control valve 81 for the bagejecting mechanism motor and the mechanism 80.

The mechanism 80 comprises a cylinder 82 having ports 83 and 84 atopposite ends, a piston 85 in the cylinder 81, and a piston rod 86having a lateral arm 87 for operating the reversing switch 79.

The reversing switch has two operating arms 88 and 89 ninety degreesapart. When the piston rod 86 is retracted, the arm 87 engages thehorizontally positioned arm 88 and moves it into a vertical positionwhile moving the arm 89 into a horizontal position. When the piston rod86 is extended, the arm 87 engages the horizontally positioned arm 89and moves it back into its vertical position while returning the arm 88to its horizontal position.

The bag ejecting mechanism motor includes the cylinder 54 which hasports 90 and 91 at opposite ends, the piston 56 and the piston rod 57.

The switch 77 puts the timer 78 in operation when a bag of materialcontacts the lever 61. The timer is constructed and arranged to closeits contacts twice momentarily in cycle of operation, namely, when asufficient duration of times has elapsed for the bag to be emptied andthe bag is to be ejected and when the bag has been emptied.

The control valve 81 is a four-way Allenair valve which has ports 92 and93 respectively connected to cylinder ports 83 and 90 and cylinder ports84 and 91, and has solenoids 95 and 96 for shifting its valve member.

One side of the source of electricity 75 is connected to a terminal 97of the solenoid 95 and a terminal 98 of the solenoid 96. The main switch76, the control switch 77 and the timer 78 are connected in series inthe other side of the source. A terminal 99 of the timer is connected toa terminal 100 of the reversing switch 79, and terminals 101 and 102 ofthe switch 79 are respectively connected to a terminal 103 of thesolenoid 95 and a terminal 104 of the solenoid 96.

The vibrator motor 40 is directly connected to one side and is connectedto the other side through the main switch 76 so that the motor keepsrunning while the main switch is closed.

In operation with the main switch closed, momentary closing of thecontacts of the timer 78 energizes the solenoid 95 of the valve 81 toposition the valve so that air is supplied to the cylinder ports 83 and90 whereupon the piston rod 57 is extended to raise the bag ejectingtines 51, and the piston rod 86 is retracted to reverse the switch 79.The next momentary closing of the timer contacts energizes the solenoid96 of the valve 81 to position the valve so that air is supplied to thecylinder ports 84 and 91 whereupon the piston rod 57 is retracted, toreturn the bag ejecting tines 51, and the piston rod 86 is extended toreverse the switch 79.

The bag ejecting mechanism control circuit has now been restored to itsoriginal position and is ready to repeat its cycle of operation witheach operation of the timer 78 by the control switch 77.

SUMMATION From the foregoing description it will be seen that thepresent invention provides an improved bag opening and emptying machinewhich responds to the weight of a filled bag to initiate an automaticcycle of operation. The machine is sturdy in construction and canwithstand such rough usage to which it may normally be subjected.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in any limiting sense.

I claim:

'1. A bag opening and emptying machine comprising a frame, an openbottom basket, yieldable elements between said frame and said basket forsupporting said basket on said frame to facilitate vibration of saidbasket, a pair of parallel members for supporting a bag filled with freeflowing particles of material and having a space therebetween, arotatable shaft on said frame at right angles to said members, an arm onsaid shaft, a knife on said arm positioned to move within said space andto slit the underside of the bag, means for rotating said shaft to causesaid knife to move in an arcuate path and slit the underside of the bag,means for vibrating said basket to cause the material to flow throughthe slit in the bag whereby the bag is emptied, tine means positioned insaid space and below the bag, means for pivotally mounting one end ofsaid tine means on said frame, and mechanism for operating said lastmentioned means to swing said tine means upwardly and outwardly of saidframe and thereby lift the emptied bag and eject it from the machine.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said knife has two edges, andsaid shaft rotating means are constructed and arranged to alternatelymove said knife in opposite directions.

3. -A machine according to claim 1, wherein said members are rigid rodssecured to said basket at the upper end thereof.

4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein additional parallel membersare provided with each adjacent pair having a space therebetween, and asufficient number of arms and knives are operated by said shaft toprovide a knife in each space to thereby form a plurality of slits inthe bag whereby the bag emptying tine is shortened.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,031,869 2/1936 Trouth 2l4--3052,930,501 3/1960 Cotterell 2l4--305 3,224,609 12/ 1965 Dietert 214-305HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner,

